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Titanium or SS?

eclipse01 said:
what will be the better/more popular option? Isn't titanium heavy? (probably a dumb question)
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Titanium is not heavy at all. A lot of higher end sunglasses and frames manufacturers use titanium because of its strength and weight.

That being said, I still went with SS again this year. I am just more of a fan of shiny watches.
 
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parseckadet said:
It's a different look, and to some people it's worth the cost.

Yeah, this effectively makes the price difference only $50 when compared to the SS versions. Not too bad in my mind.

I've been wanting a brushed metal look ever since the series 0. My TAG is brushed steel and that serves to hide scratches much better. Think about it. A scratch on a polished surface is glaringly obvious. On a brushed surface it blends right in since brushing it is really just scratching it in an organized way. However, now that I see it I'm not sure I like the contrast of the brushed metal case with the polished glass. I'm firmly on the fence. Not upgrading for at least two more years, so I have plenty of time to ponder.


I have a feeling it will actually hold up better than the polished steel watch.
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As an owner of several mechanical watches, I disagree a little bit about scratching. Even though polished surfaces get more noticeable scratching up close, they reflect light a lot more, which hides the scratching quite well. I wanted a brushed finish steel watch simply because I prefer a more subdued appearance, and this titanium one won't match my links bracelet.

Either way, titanium tends to scratch more than steel, so we'll see how that goes with new adopters.
 
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(apologies if mentioned already)

Another difference in the SS and Ti watches -- the Ti model comes with two year warranty vs. SS one year. I guess since it's an "Apple Watch Edition" or something. Of course then AppleCare+ costs an extra $1/month but can go for up to three years coverage.


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deeddawg said:
(apologies if mentioned already)

Another difference in the SS and Ti watches -- the Ti model comes with two year warranty vs. SS one year. I guess since it's an "Apple Watch Edition" or something. Of course then AppleCare+ costs an extra $1/month but can go for up to three years coverage.


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Interesting. So it costs $100 more than the SS but for that you get:
1: Titanium case
2: A second band
3: An extra year of warranty.

This all adds up to be worth considering spending the extra $100 in my mind. Not sure that I ever would, and I'm not upgrading this year anyway. But if I were I would strongly consider it.
 
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can the warranty be transferred if sold after the first year? that might help resale value.
 
mmomega said:
Titanium is not heavy at all. A lot of higher end sunglasses and frames manufacturers use titanium because of its strength and weight.

That being said, I still went with SS again this year. I am just more of a fan of shiny watches.
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According to the website, the titanium model weighs exactly the same as the SS (and the ceramic). For the 40mm, all three weigh, supposedly, 39.8 grams. The aluminum only weighs 30.1. I would have thought the titanium would be lighter than the SS. Maybe Apple got lazy on weighing these things.
 
Sticman said:
According to the website, the titanium model weighs exactly the same as the SS (and the ceramic). For the 40mm, all three weigh, supposedly, 39.8 grams. The aluminum only weighs 30.1. I would have thought the titanium would be lighter than the SS. Maybe Apple got lazy on weighing these things.
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Folks are thinking Apple f'd up the website and copy/pasted - Ceramic is also listed as the same weight.

Since titanium is ~45% lighter than steel, it is rather unlikely the SS & Ti models weigh exactly the same to the tenth of a gram.
 
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I love my SS S4 and decided to add a SBSS S5. I will definitely appreciate the "always on" feature while working out. The Titanium (while nice I'm sure) does look a little too much like the aluminum to me.
 
Stainless. Traditional and the regular stainless can have scratches buffed out with a polishing cloth, if the titanium scratches, there probably isn’t a simple remedy for it. (Aside from the Space back with the DLC.)
 
You can get titanium refinishing pads that will remove scratches, but it's difficult keeping the same uniform direction of the brushed finish.

I bought one to polish out a scratch on the clasp of a titanium Citizen watch I passed on to my Dad. Took a lot of elbow grease to hide the mark but it did the trick.
 
Marco123 said:
So is the titanium a softer metal than SS?
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Apple uses a 316 L stainless for their finish, which is basically a commonality for _a lot_of stainless watches on the market. That said, the stainless Apple Watch can scratch or dent relatively easily, that’s because their regular 316 L stainless does not have any additional curing properties to make it harder. I can’t attest to titanium, as I’ve not used that specific material for a watch yet.
 
They are both coated and both will scratch easily if scraped up against something sharp. neither can be sanded out since both are coated. Moral is be careful either way.
 
I found the following post on another forum which seems to be very useful and germane to this discussion:
https://forums.watchuseek.com/f2/wh...er-questions-about-case-materials-612737.html

TLDR; Titanium is stronger than typical stainless steel, but not the 316L alloy Apple is using. The two are very close though. On the Mohs scale (which the post says is rarely used in industry) titanium rates a 6.0, while 316L steel is 6.5. For reference, diamond rates 10, sapphire 9.0. Here's a link to some other minerals and their hardness values:
https://www.rockrollers.com/features/hardness.html

Edit to add: The number I gave for titanium does not include any additional hardening techniques that could still potentially be applied. That's just the number for titanium right out of the ground as far as I know. I don't believe Apple has indicated what other treatments they have applied to the titanium casing (other than the DLC layer for the black one).
 
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Titanium is very light and strong. Honda used in to make their carbs for the racing bikes. Jet fighters use alot. it is also very flammable, like magnesium. If an aircraft crashes on an aircraft carrier, they push into the sea because it will burn a hole in the steel deck.
 
I've got an old titanium connecting rod from my race car sitting on my desk right now. I like to fidget with it when I'm on boring phone calls. It feels sort of freaky, the metal isn't as dense as metal is supposed to be which makes it feel oddly "warm" to the touch, and it is lighter than your brain thinks it should be. It's weird and oddly zen to hold it. Titanium is a weird, weird metal.

I'm tempted by the Titanium watch, but I want to see them in person before I make a decision.
 
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For just $100 extra and 1 year warranty extra (also 3 years in total with Apple Care+) Titanium was my choice.
 
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parseckadet said:
Interesting. So it costs $100 more than the SS but for that you get:
1: Titanium case
2: A second band
3: An extra year of warranty.

This all adds up to be worth considering spending the extra $100 in my mind. Not sure that I ever would, and I'm not upgrading this year anyway. But if I were I would strongly consider it.
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The Ti models come with a second band, too?
 
M.Rizk said:
For just $100 extra and 1 year warranty extra (also 3 years in total with Apple Care+) Titanium was my choice.
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I wonder what percentage of Edition buyers will still be wearing the same watch 2 years later. I'd bet most will have upgraded at least once by the time that third year of AppleCare would theoretically take effect.
 
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